1. The 1920s

2. WWI changes people’s attitudes and beliefs.
-Stasis/paralysis-Where are we going? Where is society headed? Is it all downhill from here?
-Disillusionment
-Fear of the future, uncertainty
-Finding one’s place, belonging-New opportunities makes people wonder what to do with themselves.
-Change in the social classes (further development of the “middle”/”working” class
-Questioning/disregarding religion and traditional moral values

3. -WWI was the “next big thing” as far as wars went for the U.S.
-Civil war had been highly romanticized
-Spanish-American war very short
-WWI introduces use of chemical warfare and automatic weapons as well as new types of weapons never used before.
-The war was long, bloody and for some people it seemed pointless.
-Europe was destroyed physically, financially and spiritually
-Much of Europe would face oppression and want until and after WWII

4. Dulce Et Decorum Est By: Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

5. 1. What is the meaning of the Latin phrase at the end?
2. How is the war described? Find 2 lines which describe the nature of this war.
3. Give one example of good imagery and one simile found in the poem.
4. What is the author’s message to the reader?

6. Dulce Et Decorum Est By: Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

8. 1900s
1920s

17. ”The Lost generation”
the generation reaching maturity during and just after World War I, a high proportion of whose men were killed during those years.
an unfulfilled generation coming to maturity during a period of instability.

31. Harlem Renaissance The Main Idea
Transformations in the African American community contributed to a blossoming of black culture centered in Harlem, New York. Tensions:
Many found opportunities in the North but also racism
Racial tensions were especially severe after World War I, when a shortage of jobs created a rift between whites and African American workers.
This tension created a wave of racial violence in the summer of 1919.

32. Raised Expectations
Another factor that added to racial tensions was the changing expectations of African Americans.
Many believed they had earned greater freedom for helping fight for freedom overseas in World War I.
Unfortunately, not everyone agreed that their war service had earned them greater freedom.
In fact, some whites were determined to strike back against the new African American attitudes.

35. -Roaring 20s
Flapper
Speakeasy
-Prohibition
Women’s suffrage
-”The Lost generation”
-Jazz age -